Method and apparatus for building tires



y 29, 1956 J. l. HAASE 2,747,650

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Nov. 1, 1951 9Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTOR N EY May 29, l HAASE METHOD AND APPARATUS FORBUILDING TIRES Filed Nov. 1, 1951 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 Qwuem to'b JORGEN l.HAASE ATTO R N EY May 29, 1956 J. l. HAASE METHOD AND APPARATUS FORBUILDING TIRES 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 1, 1951 I I I I grWC/YHMJORGEN I.

HAASE fimz ATTORNEY May 29, 1956 J. l. HAASE 2,747,650

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Nov. 1, 1951 9Sheets-Sheet 4 F w w r a I awe/Mm; N JORGEN l. HAASE ATTOR N EY May 29,1956 J. l. HAASE 2,747,650

METHOD AND APPARATU FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Nov. 1. 1951 9 Sheets-Sheet5 ATTOR N EY May 29, J. HAASE 2,747,650

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Nov. 1, 1951 9Sheets-Sheet 6 awe/Wm JORGEN l. HAASE ATTOR N EY y 9, 1956 J. l. HAASE2,747,650

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Nov. 1, 1951 9Sheets-Sheet 7 I 1: FIG. 24

l I I V i 23 INVENTOR. 1 JORGEN l. HAASE BY ATTbRNEY May 29, 1956 9Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Nov. 1, 1951 May 29, 1956 J. l. HAASE METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Nov. 1, 1951 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 FIG. 20

y I FIG. 2| 1 i l INVENTOR. H JORGEN l. HAASE 4o 4 By ATTORNEY METHODAND APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Jorgen I. Haase, Akron, Ohio, assignor,by rnesne assignments, to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, acorporation of Ohio Application November 1, 1951, Serial No. 254,236 39(1lain1s. (Cl. 154-9) This invention relates to a method and apparatusfor building automobile tires and the like. In building tires on what isknown as a crown-type drum the fabric which is first wrapped about thecylindrical surface of the drum to form a sleeve or is pre-formed andthen slid in place thereover, must be gathered in at the ends where thefabric extends beyond the ends of the drum and then moved inwardly overthe end of the drum and around the bead, since, in the crown type ofdrum, the head is located an appreciable amount radially inward of theouter surface of the drum.

It has been the custom in thus gathering the material over the ends ofthe drum, to pleat the fabric or gather it in and in one way or anotherwrap the fabric around the bead, which, in the finished tire, restrainsthe fabric from outward movement, all of which is well understood in theart. These pleats as previously formed were not of uniform size andshape due to the fact that the methods employed were not capable ofmaking them so and there was no means for controlling the formation ofthe pleats to insure uniformity. In addition, these pleats were thencollapsed after forming by a suitable stitching mechanism or by handbefore the bead was applied. One big dis advantage of previous knownmethods of pleating has been that the cords in the fabric are not alwaysproperly arranged after the pleating or gathering takes place and, as aresult, in the completed tire each of the cords does not take its fairshare of the load. Theoretically, each cord should be tension ed thesame amount and have the same angular relation with respect to theperipheral edge of the drum as does every other cord and preferablyevery cord in a layer of fabric should lie within the same plane so thatthe material will not be too bulky around the bead and the directionalload on each cord will be the same, thus giving greater uniformity tothe finished tire, not only in appearance but in performance.

The present invention therefore has for its object the provision of amethod and a machine for building tires on crown drums whereby the cordsof a single layer of fabric lie in substantially the same plane so as toavoid bulkiness of the material in wrapping it about the beads and withthe cords all extending inwardly at the same angle with respect to theouter peripheral surface of the drum. Many means have been devised forpleating fabric in order to accomplish by such means what was earlierdone by hand but, after the pleats have been formed by such means or thematerial has been gathered to effect a somewhat uniform distribution ofthe material at the end of the drum, the material is stitched down insuch a manner that the cords lie at various angles and are generally notin the same plane but are overlapping. If they are in the same plane itis a happenstance and not a direct result of using the machine or theprocess.

Essentially the present method consists in first making afabric band ona tire drum or pre-forming it and then placing it on a drum with theends projecting outwardly from the ends of the drum. Then the projectingsleevelike ends are moved inwardly, while at the same time States PatentF pleats, scallops, flutes or corrugations are formed, thus forming asinuous, generally frusto-conical formation having its axis at the axisof the drum and with the ribs extending away from the ends of the drum.The material is not at this stage compacted, stretched or in any waymaterially distorted, other than to put undula tions or scallops ofuniform size in the material. The peripheral length of the sinuousportion is substantially that of the peripheral length of the band.

The next step is to move a head or ring against the scalloped portionswith a purely axial motion whereby the scallops are flattened in amanner to be brought out more specifically in the specification, and,while these are being flattened, the material is simultaneously movedinwardly toward and finally against the end of the drum which is offsetinwardly of the crown. This is all done without putting undue strain onthe cords, all in a manner to be described later. During this flatteningprocess the cords, instead of tending to be bunched up and overlapping,are merely squeezed together so that they all lie within the same planebut are crowded together to a higher degree than they were in theoriginal fabric. If, for example, it were intended that the cords beradial when arranged against the end of the drum, every cord would beradial which would mean they would be spaced apart more at the crown ofthe drum than at the bead area. However this is not generally the caseas it is desired that'the cords have an angle to the radial direction orthe peripheral edge of the drum, as is well understood. The action whencords are non-radial is the same as described above except each cordoccupies substantially the same angle with respect to the edge of thedrum.

During the operation of flattening the scallops, the ends of thematerial are drawn under the beads and then project in a generally axialdirection away from the drum. These portions are subsequently brought uparound the outside of the beads and hand-heeled against the carcass andthen stitched down against the adjacent portion of the bead and carcassin a well-known manner.

If two or more beads are to be applied, then the scalloping ring whichis to form the scallops occupies one axial position during thescalloping of one band of fabric for one bead and another axial positionfor the band of fabric for the other bead. I

This method is also adaptable to the building of extremely large-sizetires. With the large-size tires it is customary to build the tires bythe band method, which means that sleeves of multiple plies of fabricare first formed on a separate machine and then slipped over the drum.Some of these sleeves have four to six plies, four being a rather commonnumber. In pleating the ends of such bands by hand there is aconsiderable amount of material to be handled and it becomes bunched upand very irregular.

It has been found, however, that the method that is described herein canbe applied to the building of such large tires by first'making the bandsof a rather small diameter, say as much as a foot less in diameter thanthe diameter of the drum, then mechanically stretching the band so thatit will slip over the drum, whereafter the natural tendency of the bandto recover its original diameter causes the protruding ends of thefabric to contract and at least approach the original diameter of thebead, thus causing the material to be drawn down around the roundededges of the crown, all as will be more specifically pointed outhereinafter. Afer this step in the process the pleating rings are usedas described with reference to machines for building the smaller-sizetires.

A very important object of this invention is to eliminate the necessityof having to apply cement to hold the fabric against the end faces ofthe drum or the outer surface of the drum whereby, after the tire isbuilt, the drum which is made in sections can be readily collapsedandremoved from the tire. Previously it has been the custom] to providea cement on the end faces of the drum so that. the material which isstitched against the ends of the drum will stay in that position untilthe head can be applied. With this invention the bead is acted upon bythe stichiug mechanism to move the material against the end of the drumand under the bead and, of course, the head is simultaneously positionedwhen positioning the fabric. Then, While so positioned, the material isstitched upwardly and over the bead in proper relation thereto so thatno cement is required to hold the fabric against the end of the drum.When using cement, as is the customary practice, there is such anadhesion between the material of the tire and the drum that it isgenerally necessary to use a considerable amount of solvent between thedrum and the tire in order to free the drum from the tire before thedrum sections can be collapsed and separated from the tire. These drumsare normally collapsed axially and then radially and whether this isdone by mechanical means or by hand is immaterial because under eithercondition extreme difiiculty is experienced. This method, of course,also eliminates the step of applying a cement to the drum beforebuilding the tire and it also prevents the accumulation of cement on thedrum, thus eliminating frequent cleaning thereof.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter as thedescription of the invention proceeds, the novel features, arrangementsand combinations being clearly pointed out in the specification and inthe claims thereunto appended.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view partly in section showing in a more or lessschematic manner an apparatus for building tires according to thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is an end view illustrating the manner in which the operatorassists the stitching mechanism in the pleating operation;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the application of the firstbead of a tire employing two beads at each end;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the first head in place;

Fig. 6 is a cross section taken along the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a cross section taken along the line 7--7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the start of the applicationof the second bead; and

Fig. 9 shows the pleating operation in more detail than it is shownelsewhere and on an enlarged scale. It

is shown with reference to the pleating of the second ply;

Fig. 10 shows the first bead in place but on an enlarged scale to moreclearly illustrate the functioning of some of the parts;

Fig. 11 is a view taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 10;

Figs. 12 and 13 are end views of the opposite ends of the scallopingring;

Fig. 14 is a view looking in the direction 1414 of Fig. 13;

Figs. 15, 16 and 17 are enlarged diagrammatic views illustrating themethod of compacting the scallops in the fabric;

Fig. 18 is a front elevational view of a modified tirebuilding machinepartially in section;

Fig. 19 is a view similar to Fig. 18 showing portion of the apparatus onthe right side of the machine that could not be included readily in Fig.18;

Fig. 20 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the means for positioning thescallopiug ring at different axial spaces along the shaft;

Fig. 21 shows a modified star wheel for forming'pleats when using theapparatus shown in Figs. 18 and 19; and

Figs. 22, 23 and 24 illustrate diagrammatically the manner of utilizingthis method for a large-size tire in which the bead diameter isrelatively small with respect to the over-all diameter of the drum onwhich the tire is built.

A conventional crown drum 1 having the end faces or skirts 2 inwardlyoffset, is shown clearly in Fig. 1. It is against these faces that thesleeve-like ends 3 of the fabric band 4 must be pressed and held in thatposi tion so as to conform the fabric to the skirts 2. A shaft 5rotatably supports the drum in any conventional manner, not shown, andthis shaft also supports bead-supporting rings 6 slidably mountedthereon and normally moved to out-of-the-way positions away from thedrum until they are ready for use. Also slidably mounted on the shaft 5is a scallop-forming ring 7 which has an axially extending flange 8which is scalloped at its free edge as at 9. While not shown in Fig. 1,there is another similar bead-setting ring which is constructed fortemporary mounting on the shaft 5 at the left of the drum 1, similar tothe mounting shown for this part in the modified form shown in Fig. 19.A stitching-wheel supporting arm 10 mounted in any conventional mannerto swing about a fixed axis, or otherwise mounted for movement againstthe fabric, carries a star wheel 11, better illustrated in Fig. 2, andon the lower side of this wheel and mounted to rotate on the same shaftis a disc 12 which is outwardly flared so that its face at the left, asviewed in Fig. 1, is in a plane perpendicular to the shaft 5 when thestar wheel is in operation as shown in Fig. 1. It is to be understoodthat the wheel 11 and the disc 12, both rotate freely on an axis on theend of the arm 10 and may be integral or formed separately and fastenedtogether later.

As clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 the operator takes hold of the free endof the fabric at one peripheral position and pulls it tightly downagainst the outer edge of the. scalloped ring 7 which consists ofalternate rounded projections and valleys. The star wheel is thenpressed against the fabric and forces the material into the open spacesin the scalloped ring. Next, the drum is then rotated by a step-by-stepmovement accomplished in a manner well understood in the art by a motorwhich is actuated periodically by a switch controlled by the operatorsfoot. As the drum rotates, the stitcher wheel forces the-material intothe grooves in the scalloped ring and it is now only necessary to holdthe material lightly in this position after the fabric, which has beenpleated by the scalloped wheel, moves past the star wheel or stitcher.This is accomplished by applying a small amount of rubber 13 secured tothe ring underneath the projections of the scalloped ring 7 and thenapplying a small amount of cement to the outer ends of these pieces ofrubber prior to the scalloping operation. This cement holds the scallopsin place until such a time as the bead 14 supported by the bead ring 6is moved against the scallops to advance the material toward the end ofthe drum. It is to be noted that the angle of the material extendingdown over the crown of the drum to the scalloping ring has substantiallythe opposite angle to the angle at the end of the drum, namely the skirt2. This is for a definite purpose. It is to provide just the requiredamount of material to lie against the end of the drum when the materialis moved against the end of the drum, but is short enough to provideenough tensioning of the material to insure a snug fit of that materialagainst SUI? face 2 when it has been moved to the position illustrated.

, in Fig. 5. The length of the scalloped portion of the ring isapproximately equal to the peripheral length of the projecting edge ofthe band.

. After the scalloping is completed the bead-carrying ring 6 is slidalong the shaft until it is in a position such as illustrated in Fig. 3with the inner free edge of the drum against the fabric and with thebead 14.against the adjacent portion of the fabric. An ordinaryflat-faced stitcher wheel 15 (Fig. 3) carriedon thearm 16 is then usedto advance the bead 14 toward the end of the tire while the drum isrotated rapidly and thus flatten out the scallops in the manner whichwill be described more particularly in connection with Figs. 15, 16 and17. This advance of the bead, strips the bead from the drum 6 and at thesame time moves it into its final position as illustrated in Fig. 5,with the free projecting edges 3 of the fabric projecting in a generallyaxial direction, after which the ring 6 is moved to an inoperativeposition. Then, after hand-healing the free edge of the fabric up aroundthe bead, a stitcher wheel, such as the stitcher 15, may be used tostitch the fabric firmly in place against the carcass in a manner wellunderstood in the art.

In Figs. 15, 16 and 17 the flattening of the scallops is clearlyillustrated. One of these scallops is indicated generally by the numeral17 and the cords of the fabric which are designated by the numeral 18are embedded in rubber 19. As will be noted from an inspection of Fig.15, the cords are normally spaced somewhat from each other in thefabric, there being a quantity of rubber between and around the cords.As the stitcher wheel 15 advances in the direction of the arrow duringthe rotation of the drum, the head 14 is advanced against the scallopand each individual cord is moved in a generally axial direction so thatmidway of this operation the middle cords (Fig. 16), which are the firstones contacted, are aligned and moved closer together but not intooverlapping relation. This is possible since it should be rememberedthat the lower free end of the fabric is being turned under the head bythe raised snubbing ring 20 carried thereby and the bead holds the cordswith a suflicient tension to prevent circumferential shifting of thecords with respect to each other. Finally when the scalloped portion iscompletely collapsed the cords will be arranged as illustrated in Fig.17, with the cords closer together or even in substantial contact witheach other. In some cases the crowding of the cords may cause them tobecome more or less flattened while still maintained in a common plane.The result of this operation is that the cords are all symmetricallyarranged and lie in a single plane so that a very smooth wrap isprovided around the beads. This eliminates undue bulkiness about thebeads in the completed structure and also insures that every cord willbe abstantially uniformly tensioned.

In the description of Figs. 15, 16 and 17, I have considered that theband is but a single fabric layer with parallel cords. Actually the bandis composed of at least two or more layers of cords and the cords inadjacent layers are arranged at opposite angles, generally speaking, sothat when the band is stretched, as in the operation of slipping it overthe drum, the cords of the different layers change their angle withrespect to the circumferential center line of the bands and the angle ofthe cords in adjacent layers is changed, this angle being decreased inconsidering the angle formed by the cords with respect to center line ofthe drum. If and when the cords are crowded together, as described withreference to Figs. 15, 16 and 17, the cords in adjacent layers againchange their angle with respect to each other and the angles between thecords change in the opposite sense to that change that takes place whenthe band is stretched. However, even though both layers are in contactwith each other and the cords are embedded in rubber, the cords arepermitted to have what is known as a pantographing action due to thefact that the rubber is as yet uncured. However, the action in eachlayer of cords is as described in connection with 15, 16 and 17,although the cords in adjacent layers extend at opposite angles withrespect to each other. These angles are such that when the fabric ispositioned along the end of the drum, each of the cords in a given layeroccupies a position which, generally speaking, is tangent to the samecircle developed about the axis of the shaft and to the circumferentialedge or the drum.

The scalloping ring 7 must be mounted on the drum or positioned inrelation to the drum, at different axial positions when applying thefirst bead and the second bead. See Fig. 1 for the position that itoccupies in applying the first bead and Fig. 8 for the position that itoccupies in applying the second bead. Any means can be provided foraccomplishing this result and in the drawings I have shown the ring asbeing attached to a supporting ring 21, on which are mounted arcuatemembers 22 which are grooved at 23 and 24 to receive the inward- 1y.projecting edge 25 of the drum. It is to be noted that when the edge 25is in the groove 24, as in Fig. 1, the ring 7 is in proper position forapplying the first band and bead and, if shifted to the groove 23, as inFig. 8, it is in position for applying the second band along with thebead therefor. In order to provide for assembly and disassembly of thering and drum and for the shifting of the edge of the drum from thegroove 23 to groove 24 or vice versa, the segments 22, asclearlyillustrated in Figs. 12, 13 and 14, are each provided with fourlugs arranged in pairs, the pairs being designated by the numerals 26and 2.7 respectively. When these lugs are aligned with the openings 28in the flange 25, the scalloped ring may be moved axially with respectto the drum and, after the first pair of lugs 26 has passed through theopenings 28, the scalloping ring can be rotated to bring the solidportion of the flange 25 between the lugs 26 and 27, thereby preventingaxial movement with respect to the drum and of course if it is desiredthat the flange be located in the groove 23 the lugs are aligned withthe openings 28 and the ring is again moved axially to position the ringin the groove 23 and then rotated to lock the ring against axialmovement.

Any suitable means can be employed to hold the scalloping ring in placeonce it has been located in the proper groove and for this purpose Ihave illustrated a screw 29 operated by a handle 30 which is threadedthrough the parts 21 and 22 and adapted to engage the flange 25 or anyrigid part of the drum. Usually two of these screws are used, one beingfor locking the ring in position when it is in the groove 23 and theother when it is in the groove 24. The flange 25 can, if desired, beprovided with an opening into which the end of the screw 29 may beprojected. The ring, which is to be mounted on the outboard side of thetire drum (that side from which the tire is removed), must be mountedfor bodily removal and thus it is desirable to provide a pair of handles31 by which it may be manipulated and the drum itself may also beprovided with a hub 32 connected to the ring itself, as by arms 33, thehub having an opening 34 to be mounted on the shaft 5, thus providingmeans for centering the ring with respect to the drum.

If, in manufacturing a tire, it has more than one bead the ring ispositioned, such as in the position shown in Fig. 8 with the flange 25in the groove 23. In this position it will be noted that the extendingportion 3 of the fabric occupies a smaller angle than in Fig. 1, becausenow the length of fabric necessary to be brought down against the end ofthe portion of the carcass previously formed is not as great as isrequired in bringing the fabric against the surface 2 of the drum inFig. 1. The operation in applying the second hand and the second head issubstantially the same as for applying the first band and the first beadand after this is done the fabric of the second band is hand-heeledupwardly over the edge of the tire carcass and then stitched aspreviously described in connection with Fig. 1.

The carcass is now ready for the application of other elements thereto,such as additional bands, breaker strips, chafing strips and the tiretread, but the application of these additional elements does not formany part of the present invention.

' Tire drums of this type are generally made so that they may becollapsed in two directions. First the drum is collapsed axially todiminish its overall length and then 'the tire is freed from the drum.In this invention it is proposed to remove the tire drum as a whole fromthe shaft and the operation of collapsing the drum is accomplished whilethe tire and the drum are resting on the floor. Due to the fact that inbuilding the tires according to the method described herein no cement isneeded to secure the first band to the tire drum, it is possible toperform these collapsing steps very easily, whereas when cement is usedit is necessary to first use some solvent in between the bead area ofthe carcass and the, drum to dissolve or loosen the cement holding thecarcass to the drum before the drum can be collapsed. All of thisrequires a considerable amount of time and the use of a certain amountof solvent, thus increasing the cost of manufacture. Also in usingcement to hold the first band in place, it is necessary to clean thedrum frequently to prevent building up an excess amount of cement on thedrum surface.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have illustrated a detail of the scalloping ringparticularly in connection with the snubbing ring 20 thereof. Aplurality of springs 35 are arranged peripherally adjacent the snubbingring 20 and have their free ends extending inwardly toward the tiredrum. These assist in centering the head. with respect to the end of thedrum and assist in holding the fabric against the bead but not with apositive pressure. This spring is not absolutely necessary but may befound to be desirable in certain instances. Using a spring instead of arigid portion at this position prevents binding of the head on theoutside of the ring and also makes it easier to move the ring to theposition shown in Fig. 8 as the springs 35 can move inwardly underneaththe first bead.

In Figs. 18, 19, 20 and 21 I have shown a simplified variation of themachine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 14 inclusive. This machine issubstantially the same as that illustrated in the first embodiment buthas been simplified for ease of operation and to reduce the timenecessary, particularly in setting the scalloping rings in properposition.

In Fig. 18 most of the essential mechanism is shown with the exceptionof the bead-supportingring for the outboard side of the drum. Thislatter is shown in detail in Fig. 19.

In this form of the invention the drum again may be of any desired shapebut should be collapsible axially and also radially in any desiredmanner. or it should be constructed of a plurality of segments which canbe readily withdrawn from the tire after the tire has been built. All ofthis is well understood in the art and no detail of the drum or itsmounting is herein shown, not even the drum sections that permit thedrum to be dismantled in sections. I have illustrated, however, thattthedrum, which is designated generally as 36, is made up of two similarparts 37 which are normally spaced apart with the gap between themspanned by a. thin metal band 38. The axial collapsing can beaccomplished by moving these sections together to close the gaptherebetween. The drum is also preferably divided into peripheralsections which may be individually removed from the tire carcass afterit is built. It is understood, of course, that the drum will besupported on the shaft in any suitable manner (not shown).

The shaft upon which the drum is mounted to rotate is designated by thenumeral 39 and this shaft also carries .the scalloping rings 40. Thesescalloping rings are essentially the same as described with reference tothe other form of the invention first described and similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts in Figs. 18 to 21 inclusive.However there is one distinction in these scalloping rings and that is,instead of having the rubber fingers such as 13 extend out to the edgeof the ring as illustrated in Fig. 1,,I provide aring of rubber 41 whichis mounted on the scalloping ring flange42at a position 'such that itsouter surface perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 39 lies in a planesubstantially adjacent to, but slightly above the bottom of the groovesformed in the scalloping ring, whereby when the fabric is pushed intothe grooves, as in Fig. 21, by means of a star wheel43, the rubber 41 iscompressed and, having previously been coated with a quantity of cement,holds the fabric in the bottom of the grooves. This is more desirable incertain respects than the form of the invention shown in Fig. l in thatthe fabric is held under tension in the bottom of the grooves while thehead is moving the fabric through the stages shown in Figs. 15 to 17inclusive. In Fig. 1 there is no force holding the fabric in thegrooves, even though it will normally tend to lie snugly therein. It isalso easier with this arrangement to apply a layer of cement as thesurface is continuous instead of intermittent and it is only necessaryfor the operator to take a brush with cement thereon and run it over therubber strip 41 as the drum rotates in order to get a satisfactoryapplication of the cement. Replacement of this rubber ring is also asimpler operation than replacing the numerous rubber fingers of Fig. 1.

The star wheel 43 shown in Fig. 21 is mounted so that it rotates on anaxis perpendicular to the axis of the shaft '39 and it has a widersurface than the star wheel in Fig. l, but in thus mounting the starwheel with its axis perpendicular to the shaft the necessity for aseparate ring, such as 12 in Fig. 1, is done away with and the starwheel not only forms the scallops but presses the fabric against therubber to which the cement has been applied.

In this form of the invention the inboard bead ring 6 and the inboardscalloping ring are permanently mounted on the shaft 39 but the outboardbead supporting ring and scalloping ring are mounted to be removed fromthe shaft 39 so that upon completion of the tire carcass the drum can beremoved and disassembled.

A simple form of locating means is provided for locating the scallopingring in proper position with respect to the drum instead of using therather complicated means shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14. This means isclearly illustrated in Figs. 18 and 20 in which there is a fixed sleeve44 mounted on the shaft 39 and these each have one or more axialprojections 45 adapted to be selectively engaged in the notches 46 (Fig.18) or the notches 47 (Fig. 20) provided in the hubs 48 of thescalloping ring 7. When the projections 45 are in the notches 46 thescalloping rings occupy positions corresponding to the positions in Fig.1 when applying the first bead and the first band. When the projectionsare in the notches 47 the scalloping rings are closer to the drum in anaxial direction and in this position they are ready for the applicationof the second bead. If additional bands and beads are required it iseasyto see that additional notches of difierent axial depths can beprovided for such a purpose.

The'inboard bead supporting ring 6 is mounted on a carrier 49 having abearing 50 slidably mounted on the shaft 39. The carrier 49 carrieshook-shaped lugs 51 engagingover a collar 52 on the hub 48 for thepurpose of withdrawing the bead-seatingring from its operative positionalong with the retraction of the carrier 49. This carrier 49 has anannular grooved ring 53 in which a roller 54 mounted on an arm 55 isadapted to travel. Any suitable means such as an air cylinder (notshown) is provided for actuating the arm 55 to thus move the carrier49to the right or left as the case may be, through the intermediacy ofthe roller 54 and the grooved ring 53. Of course the hooked lugs 51should be separable from the scalloping ring and therefore the flange 52on the scalloping ring is provided with notches 56 which, when alignedwith the hooked ends on the lugs, will permit separation of thescalloping ring and the bead-seating ring. p

' Turning now to Fig. 19, it may be seen the beadsupporting ring ismounted as a separate manually controlled element which can be manuallyseparated from the shaft for the reasons previously described and it isnot coupled to the scalloping ring as on the inboard side. Thisbead-supporting ring 6 is mounted on a carrier designated as 57 which inturn is carried by a shaft 58 and spring-pressed to the left by a spring59 abutting against a fixed collar 69 on the shaft 58. The shaft 58 iscoupled to the shaft 3% by means of a tubular extension 61 having a slot62 thereon with an offset portion 63 to form with the pin 64 on abushing 65 on the shaft 39, a bayonet joint which permits easy couplingand separation by the operator. A series of bolts 66 extend inwardlytoward the scalloping ring and the ends of these pins limit the movementof the bead-supporting ring to the left under the influence of thespring 59. As the head is moved from the position shown in Fig. 19 upagainst the end of the drum, the spring 59 causes the ring 6 to followthe fabric until the stops 66 limit the movement in that direction.After the bead has been applied the scalloping ring is released,disconnecting the shaft 58 from the shaft 39. This is then set to oneside until needed for the next bead. The scalloping ring is alsoremoved. The fabric is then turned up around the bead as described inconnection with Fig. 1.

In the embodiments of the invention hereinbefore described, wherein theprojecting portions of the band are moved into a corrugatedsubstantially conical shape by means of the star wheel and scallopedring, the conical shape is such that the base or widest portion of theconical shape is nearest the drum. However it is possible to positionthe scalloping ring inwardly of the edge of the drum so that the conicalscalloped portion extends in the opposite direction, bearing in mindthat the length of the fabric from the edge of the drum to the conicalportion should be a little shorter than is required when the fabric isup against the drum, whereby when the fabric corrugations or pleats arecollapsed and the fabric is moved against the end of the drum thematerial will be under a slight tension. The operation would besubstantially the same as in the form of the invention illustrated butthe star wheel would be mounted somewhat differently to reach inwardlyand under the fabric as it is moved to the inverted conical shape. Theslope on the corrugation of the ring would be in the opposite sense andthe stops for positioning the scalloped ring on the drum shaft would bealso adjusted to position the scalloped ring as desired. However, thepreferable form is that illustrated but it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited in that respect.

Another feature of the invention that is not illustrated but is readilyapparent from an inspection of the drawings is that, instead of usingthe bead ring to collapse the pleats and move the fabric toward the endof the drum, a separate non-permanent metal ring could be used whichwould then be withdrawn after it has performed its operation and thebead could then be put in place. This would not ordinarily be desirableas it multiplies the operations necessary but in some instances, as willbe more apparent in connection with the description of the inventionshown in Figs. 22, 23 and 24, it is highly desirable. In building largetires used in road construction work and the like, many plies are usedand these plies are frequently made up initially as bands, each bandhaving four, six or eight plies and then the band thus formed is placedover the drum and the edges of the band are stitched down and around thebeads.

For example, if eight plies were used in a band it would be diflicultfor the operator, vfirst to properly put the .corrugations in the fabricand then flatten the fabric corrugations. However the greatestdifficulty would be in bringing all eight plies of the band up aroundthe bead in the final turn up and hand heeling operation. Thereforebands of two plies or perhaps four pliescan be placed on the drum andthe procedure already outlined can becarried on with the exception thata metal ring is used to move band. The free edges of each band are notnow integral but are separate and after removing the metal ring the headcan be put in place and, first, the two or four plies of the last bandare first hand heeled up around the bead and then the free edges of thenext hand underneath can be hand heeled up around the bead over thesecond band. This process could be carried out with the bands of two orfour or even single plies. For these reasons it can be appreciated thata metal ring can be used in place of the head for the purposes set forthand the operation of hand heeling and stitching of the eight plies offabric can be done in stages rather than requiring that all eight pliesbe handled at once.

In Figs. 22, 23 and 24 there is illustrated diagrammatically theadvantages of this process in the manufacture of large-size tires whichhave large cross-sectional areas and a relatively small bead diameter incomparison to the cross section. In building such tires the stitching ofthe fabric around the heads is accomplished mainly by hand stitchingandpleating of the fabric. The material is bulky and a great amount of timeand ei ort is necessary to hand heel the fabric against the end of thecarcass after the bead is in place, the bulkiness of the material isincreased by the pleating of the fabric and the result is that thematerial around the heads is very bulky and the cords do not extend atthe desired angles with respect to the body of the carcass. In buildingtires of this nature bands of four, six and eight plies areused and thisincreases the difliculty of handling the fabric.

With my process it is possible to reduce the amount of time necessary tofabricate such tires and there is a greater uniformity in thedisposition of the cords for the reasons given above in connection withthe earlier description. A drum for building such tires is illustratedat 67 and it will be noted that the depth of the skirt portions at theends of the drum are relatively large and, therefore, to merely placethe bands on the outer surface of the drum with just a slight amount ofstretching, as with tires such as described in connection with Figs. 1and 8, would not be sufficient for the reason that there would be toomuch of the overhanging portion of the sleeve to be gathered in andaround the bead without overlapping and the cords could not be crowdedtogether as'much as would be necessary for this purpose.

I therefore propose that in making such tires the band be made to adiameter materially less than the outer diameter of the drum, sayapproximately of a diameter equal to the mean between the diameters ofthe inner edge 63 of the drum and the outer periphery thereof. In Fig 22I have illustrated such a band 69 in full lines to show the normaldiameter and in dotted lines to show its stretched diameter. Thisstretching can be done in any one of a number of ways familiar to thoseworking in this art. Such means generally comprises rotatable rollersover which the band is placed and as these rollers rotate the variousrollers are moved away from each other to impart a pull on the band tothus stretch it. The diameter of the stretched band is such that theband may be easily slipped over the drum and this should be done shortlyafter the stretching so that the band does not return to its originalshape before application to the drum. In the stretching operation astress is put in the material due to the pantographing of the cords andthe consequent stretching of the rubber and when the stretching forceson the band. are released the band tends to return to substantially itsoriginal diameter. This being the case after the band is on the drum,the band shrinks in diameter and, while at the center, it is restrainedby the drum itself, the edges are unrestrained and therefore they aredrawn inwardly until the band is shaped somewhat as shown in Fig 24. Thediameters of these projecting portions are now such that the same may bebrought in and scalloped by a scalloping ring similar to those describedpreviously and then stitched around the beads without excessive crowdingof the cords. This is for the reason that the spacing of the cords inthe projecting portions is substantially the same as in the originalband but, since this projecting portion is quite remote from the outersurface of the drum, the cords will not have to be crowded togetherexcessively and will act the same as the cords described in the previousembodiments and particularly with reference to the disclosures in Figsl5, l6 and 17. Thus, a minimum amount of thickness is added to the beadby the wrapping of the plies about the beads. In addition, the cordswill all have a more uniform angle as previously described.

Of course additional bands and beads may be applied in a like manner. Byusing this method the time necessary in building one of these large-sizetires is greatly reduced because of the elimination of a great amount ofhand operation and by the elimination of cement on the drum In additionan improved tire results from the use of this process and the beads areless bulky and more uniform.

Fig. 22 illustrates the first step of stretching the band. Fig. 23illustrates the stretched band immediately after it is slipped over thedrum and Fig. 24 illustrates the band after it has had an opportunity tocontract at the edges to substantially the initial diameter shown at 69in Fig. 22.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown forthe purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a tire-building machine in which a tire-building drum is employedfor building a tire and the material is initially arranged on thesurface of the drum with a sleeve-like portion of said materialprojecting from at least one end of said drum, the improvement whichcomprises the combination with said drum of a pleating ring mountedcoaxially therewith adjacent said end of said drum and having a sinuoussurface thereon against which the projecting part of said sleeve-likeportion may be moved into substantial conformity therewith to formpleats in the material.

2. A tire-building machine as set forth in claim 1 in which a stitchingwheel is mounted adjacent said drum for moving parts of said sleeve-likeportion into substantial conformity with said sinuous surface.

3. A tire-building machine as set forth in claim 1 in which the sinuoussurface on said ring is beveled.

4. A tire-building machine as set forth in claim 1 in which the pleatingring is adjustably mounted for positioning it at different axialpositions with respect to the end of said drum. 7

5. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the pleating ring isprovided with a cement-receiving surface in a position to be engaged bythe material of said sleeve w en moved against said sinuous surface onsaid ring, whereby to maintain the shape of the portion of the sleevelying against the ring when said last surface has cement appliedthereto.

6. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which said ring has a resilientsurface positioned near the sinuous surface to which cement is applied,whereby when the pleats are formed, portions, at least of said materialengage the cemented resilient surface and are held in juxtapositionthereby against said sinuous surface of the ring when said projectingpart of the sleeve is moved thereagainst.

7. In a tire-building machine in which a tire-building drum is employedfor building' a tire and thematerial .isinitially arranged on thesurface of the drumwith' a sleeve-like portion of the materialprojecting from at least one end of said drum, the improvement whichcomprises the combination with said drum of a pleating ring removablymounted coaxially therewith adjacent said end of said drum having asinuous surface thereon, against which the projecting portion of saidsleeve may be moved in substantial conformity therewith to form pleatsin the material, and means for thereafter moving a tire bead against theprojecting sleeve portion in engagement with said ring to collapse saidpleats and move the material toward the ends of said drum.

8. In a tire-building machine in which a tire-building drum is employedfor building a tire and the material is initially arranged on thesurface of the drum with a sleevelike portion of said materialprojecting from at least one end of said drum, the improvement whichcomprises the combination with said drum of a pleating ring removablymounted coaxially therewith adjacent said end of said drum of smallerdiameter than said drum and having a sinuous surface thereon facing awayfrom the drum and contoured to a length substantially equal to theperimeter of the projecting sleeve-like portion, against which a portionof said sleeve may bemoved into substantial conformity therewith to formpleats therein, and thereafter pressing the material thus formed againstan end surface of the drum.

9. In a tire-building machine, the combination with a tire-building drumhaving an outer substantially cylindrical surface and contiguous,inwardly projecting flanges at opposite ends of said drum and ofsubstantial radial depth, of a pleat-forming ring arrangedconcentrically with said drum with the outer surface thereof ofsubstantially the same diameter as the inner bead diameter of the headto be used in building the tire, said ring having projections thereonagainst which projecting portions of a band of material formed on thedrum may be moved to pleat the material before moving said materialagainst the adjacent flange.

10. A device as set forth in claim 9 in which a stitcher wheel withprojections thereon is mounted for movement into a position adjacentsaid ring to force the material against the projections on said ring andinto the spaces therebetween.

11. A device as set forth in claim 9 in which there is means foradvancing a head against the material engaging said ring, and in whichthe ring is no larger in external diameter than the internal diameter ofthe bead, but closely approximates the latter, whereby the bead may beforced over said ring by said advancing means against the adjacentflange on the drum while the ring stitches the material of the bandagainst the bottom of the head.

12. A tire-building machine including in combination a drum on whichtires are to be built, flanges depending from the sides of said drum, apleating ring mounted coaxially with said drum but having the outer edgethereof spaced axially substantially from one of the said flanges, meansfor stitching the projecting edge of a tire band on said drum againstsaid outer edge of said ring, and means for moving a tire bead of largerinternal diameter than the outer diameter of said ring against thematerial of said band over said ring against the material between saiddrum and ring to move said material toward said one of said flanges,whereby the ring stitches the material simultaneously against theunderside of said bead as the bead is moved over the ring.

13. The method of building a tire in which the end portions ofcylindrical bands are turned inwardly and these ends are then wrappedabout beads, that improvement which consists in forming generally radialfluted portions in the material of the inwardly turned end portions ofthe bands and then substantially simultaneously collapsing all of saidfluted portions by a substantially wholly axially directed force.

14. The method set forth in claim 13 in which additional bands areprovided and in which additional beads are 13 similarly applied thereto,which includes the additional step over claim 13 of forming flutedportions in a succeeding band and substantially simultaneouslycollapsing all of said fluted portions by a substantially wholly axiallydirected force.

15. The method set forth in claim 13 in which additional bands areprovided and in which additional beads are similarly applied thereto,which includes the additional step over claim 13 of forming flutedportions in a succeeding band and substantially simultaneouslycollapsing all of said fluted portions in a similar manner, butpositioning the fluted portion of the succeeding band at a differentposition axially of the drum prior to collapsing same.

16. The method of building a tire in which the end portions ofcylindrical bands are turned inwardly and these ends are then wrappedabout beads, that improvement which consists in forming generally radialfluted portions in the material of the inwardly turned end portions ofthe bands and then moving a tire bead axially of said hand against thefluted portions to simultaneously collapse said fluted portions and tostitch the bead thereto.

17. The method of building a tire in which the end portions ofcylindrical bands are turned inwardly and these ends are then Wrappedabout beads, that improvement which consists in forming generally radialfluted portions in the material of the inwardly turned end portions ofthe bands and then moving a tire bead axially of said hand against thefluted portions to simultaneously collapse said fluted portions while atthe same time restraining the edges of said end portions close to theinner periphery of the head to stitch the end portions against the innercircumference of the head.

18. In a tire-building machine in which a tire-building drum is employedfor birlding a tire and the material is initially arranged on thesurface of the drum with a sleevelike portion of said materialprojecting from at least one end of said drum, the improvement whichcomprises the combination with said drum of a snub-ring and pleatingring with the latter having a sinuous surface thereon against which aportion of said sleeve may be pressed into substantial conformitytherewith to form pleats in said sleeve, and means for thereafter movinga tire-bead and the pleats over the snub-ring axially against the end ofthe building drum, thereby causing the portions of the pleats axiallyopposite to the beads to collapse and the portions radially inward ofthe bead to be pressed against the bottom of the head.

19. The method of building a tire in which the end portions ofcylindrical bands are turned inwardly and these ends are then wrappedabout beads, that improvement which consists in forming generally radialfluted portions of predetermined size and shape in the material of theinwardly turned 'end' portions of the bands in such a manner that theintersection of a cylindrical surface, coaxial with the axis of thetire, with the fluted portions would be a sinuous line continuouslyadvancing circumferentially of the cylindrical surface withoutretrogression, and then axially moving a tire head against said flutedportions to collapse the fluted portions and to stitch the bead thereto.

20. The method of forming tires from bands which comprises the steps offorming the band as a cylinder, turning each of the end portionsinwardly toward the axis of the cylinder while maintaining theintermediate portion cylindrical, the end portion being gathered in atspaced peripheral points to form pleats forming collectively a generallyfrusto-conical shape with the smaller diameter spaced outwardly from theends of the cylindrical portion of the tire band, moving an annular beadaxially against said pleats to simultaneously collapse the pleats into aplane, and moving the bead toward and beyond the outer edges of thecylindrical portion while I4 simultaneously stitching the projectingedge-of the hand against the inner surfaceofthe bead.

21. In the method of building tires on a drum in which a band of fabric,comprising cords and a yieldable material joining the cords, ispositioned about the drum with the edges of the band projecting beyondthe ends of the drum and in which the edges are then brought downadjacent the end surfaces of the drum and which have a bead appliedthereto while in that position, the improvement which comprises thesteps of moving at least one of the said edges downwardly over an endsurface of the drum while simultaneously shaping the edges to a sinuousshape of substantially the same peripheral length as the peripheraldimension of the fabric, then holding the fabric in that shape and,while so holding the fabric, moving a bead axially thereagainst to movethe fabric bodily against the end surface of the drum to thus collapsethe adjacent sinuously shaped fabric to flatten same while maintainingan inwardly directed pull on the fabric, whereby the cords of the fabricof one ply are moved closer together in substantially the same plane.

22. The method of building tires whichv comprises the steps of forming atire band of a diameter substantially less in diameter than the drum onwhich the tire is to be built and of a width materially greater thanthat of the drum, stretching the band substantially to the diameter ofthe said drum and, while so stretched, encircling the drum with saidband, releasing said band so that the ends thereof projecting beyondsaid drum will return to substantially their unstretched diameter,thereafter shaping the projecting portions to substantially conicalshape with the excess material gathered in to form a corrugated surfaceof predetermined shape, and thereafter moving beads against said endstoward the space enveloped by the stretched portion of the band, tothereby collapse the corrugations.

23. The method set forth in claim 22 in which the edges of theprojecting portions of the band are simultaneously stitched against theinner'circumferential surface of the beads as the head is advanced.

24. In the method of building tires on a drum in which a fabric band,substantially wider than the drum, is placed on the drum with at leastone edge thereof overhanging an edge of the drum and in which theoverhanging edge is turned inwardly toward the axis of the drum and thenwrapped about a bead, that improvement in the method of shaping theprojecting portions of the band, prior to wrapping it about the head,which comprises mOVing the projecting edge against a surface ofpreformed shape to produce pleats in the fabric, maintaining theprojecting edges in intimate contact with said surface to hold thepleats in shape, and subsequently stitching the pleats against the bead.

25. In the method of building tires on a drum in which a fabric band,substantially wider than the drum, is placed on the drum with at leastone edge thereof overhanging an edge of the drum and in which theoverhanging edge is turned inwardly toward the axis of the drum and thenwrapped about a bead, that improvement in the method of shaping theprojecting portions of the band, prior to wrapping it about the bead,which comprises moving the projecting edge against a surface ofpreformed shape to produce pleats in the fabric of predeterminedcontour, and maintaining the projecting edges in intimate contact withsaid surface by use of an adhesive between at least portions of saidfabric and said surface.

26. In the method of building tires on a drum in which a fabric band,substantially wider than the drum, is placed on the drum with at leastone edge thereof overhanging an edge of the drum and in which theoverhanging edge is turned inwardly toward the axis of the drum and thenwrapped about a head, that improvement in the method of shaping theprojecting portions of the band, prior to wrapping it about the bead,which comprises moving the 15 projecting edge against a surface ofpreformed shape to produce pleats in the fabric of predeterminedcontour, temporarily maintaining the projecting edges in intimatecontact with said surface by use of an adhesive between a least portionsof said fabric and said surface and then moving a head toward theadjacent end of said drum and against the pleats in the fabric, radiallyoutward of said surface, to collapse the pleats while at the same timestitching the fabric radially inward of the head against the innerperiphery of the bead.

27. In the method of building tires on a drum in which a fabric band,substantially wider than the drum, is placed on the drum with at leastone edge thereof overhanging an edge of the drum and in which theoverhanging edge is turned inwardly toward the axis of the drum and thenwrapped about a bead, that improvement in the method of shaping theprojecting portions of the band, prior to wrapping it about the bead,which comprises moving the projecting edge against a surface ofpreformed shape to produce pleats in the fabric of predeterminedcontour, temporarily maintaining the projecting edges in intimatecontact with said surface, next moving a bead against the folds tocollapse the folds adjacent the inner edge of the bead, and moving theinner edge of the fabric against the inner perimeter of the bead as thehead is advanced toward the end of the drum.

28. In the method of building tires on a tire drum having peripheral andend surfaces upon which the tire material is built to form a tirecarcass and in which a band is arranged on the drum with an edge portionthereof projecting beyond the edge of the drum and that edge is thenmoved downward and inward against the end surfaces of the drum andwrapped about a bead, that improvement which comprises forming uniformpleats in said edge portion projecting from the edge of said drum andpositively controlling the shape of said pleats by moving said edgeportions inwardly against a pre-formed outwardly facing sinuous surfaceof the desired shape for said pleats, maintaining said pleats againstsaid surface and collapsing said pleats and wrapping said collapsedpleats about the bead.

29. In the method of building tires on a tire drum having peripheral andend surfaces upon which the tire material is built to form a tirecarcass and in which a band is arranged on the drum with an edge portionthereof projecting beyond the edge of the drum and then that edge ismoved downward and inward against the end surfaces of the drum andwrapped about a head, that improvement which comprises forming uniformpleats in said edge portion projecting from the edge of said drum andpositively controlling the shape of said pleats adjacent the portion tobe wrapped about the beads by moving said edge portions inwardly againsta pro-formed outwardly facing sinuous surface of the desired shape forsaid pleats, maintaining said pleats against said surface and collapsingsaid pleats and wrapping said collapsed pleats about the bead.

30. The method of building tires that comprises encompassing a buildingdrum with a band of fabric projecting at least from one end thereof,moving the edges of the band downwardly radially inwardly over theadjacent end of the drum, moving a bead against the inwardly extendingedge of said band and continuing the movement of the bead toward the endof the drum while restraining that portion thereof inside the inner beaddiameter against axial movement and simultaneously stitching it againstthe inner perimeter of the bead.

31. The combination with a tire building drum of a pleat-forming devicemounted coaxially with the drum near one end thereof, said devicecomprising an annular member having a plurality of peripherally spacedprojections forming an outer serrated surface against which tire fabric,mounted in band form on the drum and projecting from the adjacent endthereof, may be moved to form pleats therein.

32. The combination set forth in claim 31 in which the projections arealso bevelled in a direction radiaIly inward and axially away from theadjacent end of the drum.

33. The combination set forth in claim 31 in which said device isprovided with means for selectively positioning it at different selectedco-axial positions with respect to the drum.

34. The combination set forth in claim 31 in which the projections andadjacent portions of the annular member intermediate thereof form asinuous surface progressing peripherally of the annular member in thesame direction without retrogression.

35. The combination set forth in claim 34 in which the scalloped edge isbevelled inwardly and axially away from said drum.

36. The combination with a tire building drum, of a pleat-forming ringmounted coaxially therewith, com prising an annular member havingaxially extending projections for use in forming pleats in the tirefabric used in building a tire, said member being provided with aresilient adhesive receiving cushioning member adjacent said projectionsand arranged radially inward thereof.

37. The combination set forth in claim 36 in which the cushioningmaterial projects axially into close proximity with the outer ends ofthe projections.

38. The combination set forth in claim 36 in which the cushioningmaterial is arranged axially substantially inwardly of the outer ends ofsaid projections and is peripherally arranged so that at least portionsthereof are near the spaces between said projections in a posttion toengage tire fabric pressed into the said spaces.

39. The combination with a cylindrical tire building drum of a pleatforming annular member of smaller outer diameter than the drum andmounted co-axially therewith, said device having a rigid sinuous outersurface at one edge thereof progressing peripherally withoutretrogression, the sinuous surface being of a peripheral lengthsubstantially the same as the circumference of adjacent edge of thedrum.

Engler June 10,

